PEAK 28% GST TO COME DOWN EVENTUALLY, SAYS MoS FINANCE

Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla on Saturday hinted that the peak goods and services tax (GST) rate of 28 per cent will gradually be reduced.

At a PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said the forthcoming meeting of the GST Council in Guwahati next month would give some indications to this effect.

“The Council has already taken proactive measures in rationalising the GST rates in the recent past, and the trend would continue in future wherever the taxation is deemed to be slightly on the higher side. The 28 per cent GST slab would fall according to the genuine and legitimate aspirations of the people in general and industry, in particular,” the minister said.

He assured industry that the Council will remove all glitches and loopholes in the GST system within nine months.

“The people of India, and the Indian industry, in particular, should not measure the execution of the GST in its first phase of three months with cynicism,” he said.

He said since it was such a vast tax reform, the government should be given a minimum of a year for a perfect implementation, which would lead to a win-win situation for all stakeholders.

The minister’s comments came a day after the Council removed major hassles for exporters, and small and medium enterprises, while reducing rates on 27 items.

Haryana Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu urged the cynical voices to not do a post-mortem of the GST with negativity, as the government would need time for course correction.